Weather service said ‘no tornado’

Despite damage to structures in Navarre and Navarre Beach, the National Weather Service (NWS) Office in Mobile, Ala. won’t be making a trip to the area to take a closer look. A spokeswoman from the office told Navarre Press March 28 that from reviewing pictures and radar images the damage was done by severe thunderstorms not a tornado.

A news release from Santa Rosa County noted, “The damage is thought to have been caused by a downburst, a strong downdraft which causes damaging winds on or near the ground.”

The NWS issued a severe thunderstorm warning about 30 minutes before the line of strong storms arrived in the Navarre area at about 10:30 a.m. The advisory noted that the storms could produce winds of 60 mph. However, a residential weather station on Navarre Beach measured a wind gust of 87 mph.

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